I Had a Brother

I have a brother with whom I stood in fields of ashes and soot

We heard the wails, we braved the storm of lead. 

I have a brother with whom I bled. 

I have a brother with whom I shared

a coffee, a laugh, a spot in the mud

the trauma. 

I have a brother who understood the quiet in the storm 

The chaos that we met at nights, followed by the serene morning

I have a brother who joined me in the mourning. 

I have a brother, she a husband, and them a son. 

I stand in those fields, from afar now

I dream the storm, still loud

you did not weather.

Not together. 

I had a brother, her a husband, them a son.

J.D. Carpenter is the pen name of an IDF soldier currently defending Israel. “I Had a Brother” is his first poem with Green Golem: The Zionist Literary Magazine. We at GG thank him for his service, and for his art.

Visual design by Dan Harris @jewishpaperguy